Railways' 100-day plan: Goyal approves proposal to cut travel time on Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Mumbai routes

Indian Railways is planning to reduce travel time on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes. Under its 100-day action plan, envisages reducing the travel time on these routes at an investment of over Rs 13,500 crore, according to ministry's officials. The government has been working on its 100-day plan and this is the 11th proposal prepared by the Railways, with instructions to initiate immediate action to implement them by August 31.

In a proposal approved by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the Railways plans to increase the train speed to 160 kmh on the busy routes of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah in the next four years.

Highlights of the proposal:

1. According to officials, "By increasing the speeds on these busiest rail routes, the travel time between Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai will be reduced to 12 hours and 10 hours, respectively, as compared to the current 17 hours and 15.5 hours.'' 

2. Currently the maximum speed on these routes, which account for 30 per cent of passenger and 20 per cent of freight traffic, is 130 kmh.

3. The official said the proposal envisages that in the next 100 days, approval should be obtained for this project and the proposal is being sent to the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA).

4. The estimated cost to upgrade the speed on the 1,525-km New Delhi-Howrah route will be Rs 6,684 crore and on the 1,483-km New Delhi-Mumbai route will be Rs 6,806 crore, and the entire project is proposed to be implemented within four years from the date of approval, according to the official.

5. The official said that this is one of the 11 proposals prepared by the railways in its 100-day plan, with instructions to initiate immediate action to implement them by August 31. The official said that under this plan, it may also consider giving premium trains including Rajdhanis and Shatabdis to private players. 

6. Also two trains, covering important tourist destinations or connecting major cities on less congested routes, may be allotted to Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on an experimental basis, the official said. The Request for Proposal (RFP) and a Request for Quote (RFQ) could be issued within the next 100 days, the official said.

The 100-day agenda documents also talks about providing Wi-Fi internet connection at all 6,485 railway stations including 4,882 balance stations in the next 100 days. It has a plan to obtain approval for elimination by 2023 of 2,568 level crossings on golden quadrilateral diagonals. 

It seeks assurance of 100 per cent funding of Rs 50,000 crore from the government, redevelopment of 50 railways stations and restructuring of railway board and technological revamp.